Several readers noticed that the blog has been getting a bit ragged lately. Yes, the proximate cause was writing Survival+, which has dominated my mind and time for the past six months, exhausting me in the process.

It's easy to whine but let's face it, nobody asked me (or paid me, heh) to devote a year of my life to writing the 250,000 words which were pared down to a "mere" 140,000 words in the final book. It was my choice.

The net result is I am bone-tired, exhausted to the very core of my being, and dispirited about the prospects of the book. As I am not an academic, I have no credentials which support a book contract or reviews (nor can I assign my own book to 200 freshmen a semester, darn it). I have no track record which would encourage a major publisher to pony up $50,000 for a promotional campaign and an advance on royalties.

The subject itself--the inevitable collapse of the entire status quo--is not what makes it to the shelves of every airport kiosk or the Barnes & Noble shelves. Though I feel Survival+ is extremely positive--that what we construct to replace the failed status quo will be better for us as a nation, better for the planet and healthier for us as individuals--Americans tend to like their optimism sugar-coated, just like their cereal: you can be anything you want to be, etc.

The very strength of the book in my view--that it crosses all academic boundaries in seeking a truly integrated understanding of our challenges--poses yet another difficulty. How can the book be pigeonholed for marketing? yes, it contains the word "Survival," so it fits on the shelf of survivalist books--but uneasily so, for it is not prescriptive, and some readers fault it for that dearth of specific recommendations.

the book does not list recommendations (buy gold, etc.) which "guarantee" survival and/or prosperity because the entire message of the book is that no one knows what will work five or ten years' hence. Rather than guess, I propose a list of principles and strategies which underpin prosperity regardless of the specific circumstances.

I can't recommend things which may not work for some people, or which might work in one time frame but not in another. For instance, gold may well go to $3,000 an ounce, but it might make a detour to $650 an ounce on the way--and how would my advice hold up in that circumstance?

The truth is there are no pat answers; all we can do is establish our own personal integrity as the rock beneath all our choices, keep on eye on our FEW resources (food, energy, water), seek out self-organizing groups of like-minded individuals to make transparent arrangements which are mutually beneficial, and remain flexible and adaptive to reality rather than ideology or propaganda.

Radical self-reliance begins with rock-solid personal integrity and a willingness to ask cui bono-- to whose benefit?--of every arrangement. Radical self-reliance requires thinking out one's best responses for oneself, drawing freely on the freely offered solutions of others which can be found on the Web and in self-organized transparent communities that exist independent of the floundering status quo Savior State and its financier/rentier Power Elite partners (protected fiefdoms/cartels).

In other words, there can be no prescriptive solution for an unkown future, and I designed the book purposefully to still have value to readers 5 and 10 years hence, regardless of the specifics they face at that time, specifics whihc we cannot hope to predict with any clarity.

We can, however, achieve clarity about the nature of our challenges and the principles of response/full-spectrum prosperity, and attempting to reach that clarity is the reason I wrote Survival+.

Is it imperfect? Of course! Did I leave something out of my integrated understanding? Doubtlessly. Could I have spent a decade perfecting the book? Absolutely. But with time running out for the world, the nation, and ourselves as individuals, I could not justify waiting or even tarrying over the task at hand. I rushed it to print because the attempt at an integrated understanding and a reworking of our understanding of prosperity are desperately needed now, not next year or in five years or ten years.

Did I reach my goal of presenting an integrated framework which makes sense of a complex, chaotic world? I think so, but you will have to decide for yourself.

Since I have no academic or Big Writer standing, I have essentially no assets to promote the book save one; you, dear reader, you. Word of mouth is the only way an "underground" book like Survival+ will ever "go viral" or spread into the collective consciousness.

To make this possible, I created the free versions, which don't even contain a single advert. I receive nothing for their distribution except the satisfaction that perhaps the work will spark some useful thinking in others who can then better secure their own survival and prosperity.

I am only one citizen among 300 million, one human among 6 billion, one writer among hundreds of thousands and only one blogger among tens of millions. The odds of Survival+ reaching more than the few thousand regular readers of this blog or laughably low--essentially infintesimal.

The only two assets the book possesses is its content (hopefully an asset despite its imperfections and omissions) and those readers like you who pass the free version on to others via links posted in forums, email links forwarded to others, and all the other ways which ideas percolate through the Web.

I am taking some time away from my desk for the next two weeks to attend to matters in the real world which I left unattended in my single-minded pursuit of completing Survival+, so the blog will not just remain ragged but sporadic as well.

To each of you who has sent the free version of Survival+ to others or posted a link--thank you very sincerely. You are the only hope the book has of reaching a wider audience.


Permanent link: Random Musings of a Tired Blogger

Get Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation on amazon.com or in ebook and Kindle formats. A 20% discount is available from the publisher.

Expanded free eBook now available (85,300 words, 136 pages):
in HTML: Survival+     in PDF: Survival+

NOTE: the Kindle reader for PCs is now available for free which means you can read the Kindle version of Survival+ on your PC.

Of Two Minds is now available via Kindle: Of Two Minds blog-Kindle

A new, improved easier-to-use forum is in the works.

A reader/contributor to this site suggested I enable a $5/month contribution plan for readers who would like to support the site with a modest monthly donation. I hesitate to suggest this, but for anyone who insists, here is the link to PayPal's "subscribe" option which sets up a monthly contribution.

This site is free--so the "subscription" is only a voluntary contribution. The "unsubscribe" link is also available for when you find the usual drivel here insufferable.

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"This guy is THE leading visionary on reality. He routinely discusses things which no one else has talked about, yet, turn out to be quite relevant months later."
--Walt Howard, commenting about CHS on another blog.

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A note from longtime correspondent Cheryl A.:

To all the readers of oftwominds --

I hope you’ll agree with me that oftwominds is extraordinary. There are very few sites on the web (free or pay) that offer the information found here.

Charles graciously shares his knowledge and insights which have shown to be incredibly prescient. For example, readers know he has long warned about the serious downturn in the economy and the collapse of the housing bubble. Most recently, he warned readers about an imminent stock market crash that began less than 48 hours later. In addition to financial and economic information, he entertains us with haikus and other assorted postings.

Charles has freely given both his time and money to maintain this website in an effort to inform others. The cost of doing so is not insignificant and is certainly difficult for a man of modest means.

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The future holds many surprises. Hopefully, Charles will continue to share his observations in what promises to be uncertain times. I hope, like me, you look forward to his perspective as events unfold.

Thank you, Cheryl, for this vote of confidence. I can only promise that I will continue to do my best.

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